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Archive: 2022 (103 Posts)

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Vote!

Posted by: Neely Tucker

This civic poster from the days of World War II is always a good reminder that the right to vote is something that millions of Americans have fought to earn, protect and defend. It cost something. So, as we always do on Election Day, we encourage you to exercise that right. Vote your conscience. We …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Indigenous Cultures at the Library: Kislak Family Foundation Gives $10 Million for New Gallery

Posted by: Brett Zongker

The Kislak Family Foundation is donating $10 million to create a new exhibition at the Library that will share a fuller history of the early Americas, featuring the Jay I. Kislak Collection of artifacts, paintings, maps, rare books and documents, the Library announced today. The new Kislak Gallery will be part of a reimagined visitor …

Head and shoulders portrait of Ida B. Wells, based on a photograph. She's facing right, hair swept up in a bun, a stern expression on her face

Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Maps of American Racism

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Ida B. Wells was 30 years old in 1892, living in Memphis and working as a newspaper editor, when a mob lynched one of her friends. Distraught, the pioneering journalist set out to document the stories of lynching victims and disprove a commonly asserted justification — that the murders were a response to rape. Wells’ …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Fond Farewell to John Hessler, LOC Polymath

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Every institution has its institutions, and one of the Library’s is John Hessler, who will retire from the Geography and Map Division at the end of this month. He holds many titles, official and unofficial. One of the official ones is curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology & History of the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Crime Classics: Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award-Winning “Room to Swing”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

This is a guest post by Hannah Freece, a writer-editor in the Library’s Publishing Office. “I broke par in Bingston.” With this enigmatic statement, private eye Toussaint Moore opens “Room to Swing,” Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award–winning 1957 novel, the newest addition to the Library of Congress Crime Classics series. It’s the hard-hitting story of a …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Researcher Story: Julie Centofanti

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Julie Centofanti, a biology student at Youngstown State University, started a club at her university in 2020 to transcribe historical documents included in the Library’s By the People  project. A longer version of this interview appears on the Signal blog.  How did you find out about By the People? I’m a member of the Youngstown …